The Ministry of Agriculture of India increased on 5 November the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for 2016 winter - Rabi - crops, currently being planted and to be harvested from April onwards. The MSP for wheat, the main Rabi crop, was increased by INR 75 or 5.2 percent from the previous season, to INR 1 525 per quintal (231 USD per tonne), while the MSP for barley was increased by 6.5 percent to INR 1 225 per quintal (186 USD per tonne). MSPs for pulses were also raised sharply, to encourage farmers to increase plantings, following a decline in production last year which led to an increase in imports. The MSPs are the prices at which the federal government buys food grains from farmers, aimed to boost production and to protect farmers from any sharp fall in the market price of a commodity.